Newbee question, I brewed an SNPA clone last night and pitched 1 packet of Safale US-05 directly on top of my wort as the directions stated on the packet. My pitch temp was 70*, my ferment temp cooled to and is holding steady at 68*. (primary temp not ambient) This is an extract brew using 7lbs of DME and 1 lbs of Crystal 60L. I am 24 hours in and see no signs of fermentation, no bubbling and peeking through the airlock grommet I can only see some foam on top, no change from when I pitched seemingly. I aerated prior to pitching, did not rehydrate or stir. Do I need to be concerned at this point or just wait it out another day or so? Expiration date on packet is 2015.
Safale US-05 24hrs no signs yet
- Thread starter spartan21
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
forstmeister
Well-Known Member
Give it time. It can take a couple days for a vigorous fermentation to show up.
I'll bet it will start fermenting soon. 7lbs of DME will get the yeasts attention eventually.
Having said that. I've killed my share of yeast cells pitching too hot. If fermentation doesn't start by tomorrow, just pitch another packet of yeast. I've had to do that a couple of times. I usually don't cut corners, but where I do is wort temperature before pitching yeast. What I've started doing lately is to cool the wort as much as possible, then rack it into the fermenter. If it's above, or anywhere near 80 degrees, I put the air lock on and let it cool over night, then pitch my yeast.
Not sure if you've ever tried to re-hydrate your dry yeast? I did it on the last brew day. I just boiled water for 10-20 minutes, cooled it to about 80 degrees or so. put a small amount of water in a sanitized, clear measuring cup then sprinkled the yeast over the top of the water. Covered with sanitized aluminum foil. After 15 minutes, stired, then let set for another 15 minutes. The yeast really reacted and foamed up a good bit. I felt like I was pitching live yeast at that point. Didn't really have any doubt that the cells were alive at that point. Worked really well.
The two beers are still in primary so I'm not sure yet how well it went. I'm thinking pretty well, but I'll take a gravity reading when I pitch to secondary later this week.
I believe I'll always re-hydrate my dry yeast from this point.
BTW... Safeale 05 is really the only dry yeast I use.
Having said that. I've killed my share of yeast cells pitching too hot. If fermentation doesn't start by tomorrow, just pitch another packet of yeast. I've had to do that a couple of times. I usually don't cut corners, but where I do is wort temperature before pitching yeast. What I've started doing lately is to cool the wort as much as possible, then rack it into the fermenter. If it's above, or anywhere near 80 degrees, I put the air lock on and let it cool over night, then pitch my yeast.
Not sure if you've ever tried to re-hydrate your dry yeast? I did it on the last brew day. I just boiled water for 10-20 minutes, cooled it to about 80 degrees or so. put a small amount of water in a sanitized, clear measuring cup then sprinkled the yeast over the top of the water. Covered with sanitized aluminum foil. After 15 minutes, stired, then let set for another 15 minutes. The yeast really reacted and foamed up a good bit. I felt like I was pitching live yeast at that point. Didn't really have any doubt that the cells were alive at that point. Worked really well.
The two beers are still in primary so I'm not sure yet how well it went. I'm thinking pretty well, but I'll take a gravity reading when I pitch to secondary later this week.
I believe I'll always re-hydrate my dry yeast from this point.
BTW... Safeale 05 is really the only dry yeast I use.
Ditto; give it time. The foam you saw was the first sign of fermentation. You might have released any pressure buildup when you removed the airlock thus extending the time when you will see activity in the airlock. That is, if you don't have a leaky lid.
thanks for the replies, I will recheck the seal on my lid and try to practice some patients. (truly is the hardest technique to learn as a newbee)
smcarter - I did rehydrate my first two batches and it kicked off within a day. Those were both Brewers Best Extract kits using the yeast that came with the kit. This is my 3rd batch, so far I have stuck with the instructions on packets.
smcarter - I did rehydrate my first two batches and it kicked off within a day. Those were both Brewers Best Extract kits using the yeast that came with the kit. This is my 3rd batch, so far I have stuck with the instructions on packets.
Ok so I'm coming up on 60 hours and still no bubbles but I think there are signs that it is fermenting. The Star San solution level in the air lock (glass tube type) is pushed to the outer side indicating there is pressure behind it, been this way for about 24 hours or more. The room has a sweetish type odor, my daughter says it smells like sweet potatoes. I have to leave town for a few days so I plan to take a hydrometer reading on Sunday to see where it sits. Hopefully my SG will be close to the expected reading, my OG was 1.058. I can still see a heavy layer of foam on the top from what little I can see looking down through the stem of the airlock. As a noob my curiosity is high and patients is low. Think I may switch to a Better Bottle as a primary rather than my bucket so I can see what going on inside.
Did you make sure to mix the two? It seems to me you didn't get the two mixed well. This causes the problem with the yeast starting up.
Shakybones
Well-Known Member
Buckets very often don't seal well.
I use US-05 for almost every batch I do and generally see activity in 24hrs (high grav or low grav). If you only use one pack in 5 gal, it may be slower getting started.
It's probably the bucket. RDWHAHB! You'll still get beer.
I use US-05 for almost every batch I do and generally see activity in 24hrs (high grav or low grav). If you only use one pack in 5 gal, it may be slower getting started.
It's probably the bucket. RDWHAHB! You'll still get beer.
Well after letting it sit a few more days while I was out of town I checked it on it. Hydrometer reading was 1.014 and it looked pretty clean, checked it again last night and was still at 1.014 so racked it to the secondary. After racking and plugging in the airlock it started bubbling. I'm getting a bubble about every 90 seconds or so. Plan to leave it here for 7-10 days before bottling. Tasted my hydrometer sample and it tasted very good, looking forward to this one.
Old_mil_guy
Well-Known Member
The problem being a slow start or stalled fermentation? What's remedy, pitching another packet?
Looks like the issue was lack of patients by a noob 
, I just let it sit 3 more days while I was out of town. When I returned and checked it looked good. My lesson learned was to not pay attention to the lack of activity in the airlock. Next batch will be done in a better bottle so i can see what's going on to keep my curiosity at bay. I didn't pitch another packet, just let it go.
, I just let it sit 3 more days while I was out of town. When I returned and checked it looked good. My lesson learned was to not pay attention to the lack of activity in the airlock. Next batch will be done in a better bottle so i can see what's going on to keep my curiosity at bay. I didn't pitch another packet, just let it go.
Briz34
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2013
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 1
found this post after I currently have a batch of graff cider fermenting using us-05. Pitched yeast saturday and got bubbles on sunday night and same monday morning. Came back this afternoon to find no bubbles what-so-ever. this is quite interesting as i fully expected based on other brewers of this recipe having yeast take off. I swirled the bucket some to see if I could get it to take off again but i wont pop the top until another week to take a hydro reading. still early
Ugh, still no more activity after the brief activity sunday night into monday.
Temp has been 72 deg F.
83904 342 1028 exp 12 2014
I always rehydrate US-05 and pitch and ferment low around 62*F and I see signs of fermentation in 12-18 hours and I'll start getting a good krausen in 24-36 hours and the beer is fully attenuated in 5-6 days. I'd bet you don't have a good seal on the lid if you're just going by the airlock. After 5 days I'd bet its almost fully attenuated unless you're fermenting really low.
Briz34
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2013
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 1
i saw a reply on another post by yooper about a yeast program. for this graff (brando o's graff) 1.061 OG safale 05 yeast exp 12 2014 i used mrmalty.com and it came up with 1.4 - 11.5 g packages. I don't recall the other brewers saying anything about using more packs. should i grab another pack tomorrow and add?
Yeah, I'm familiar with that thread/recipe. 1.061 is pretty big so chances are you underpitched and that is why you didn't get a quick start. I suppose it is possible that the yeast wasn't in top shape and it stalled, but again, a hydrometer sample will tell you that. US-05 is a beast though and chances are you'll be fine.
Briz34
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2013
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 1
8/7/13 update: popped the top and noticed about 3/4" of foam/yeast on top which is a good sign. Took a sample and corrected gravity reading is 1.014 definitely surprised by this verdict (the happy surprised) so ill let it go for 7 days and take another reading. so relieved right now haha.
definitely surprised by this verdict (the happy surprised) so ill let it go for 7 days and take another reading. so relieved right now haha.
I am on day 3 in the secondary and I still have consistent activity in the airlock. The transfer kick started the fermentation for sure. Next time I use the US-05 I will trust that it is working and let it sit.
kombat
Well-Known Member
Why did you rack it to secondary? What do you hope to achieve by doing so?
I was hoping to have a bit more clarity and less trudge in my bottles and I wanted to free up my primary for the next batch. I have since added a Better Bottle as a second primary so I"m not so temped to mess with it too early and so I can see what is going on in there. This was only my 3rd batch, I have racked all 3 to a secondary so far. I am starting to see that its an extra step that really isn't needed. At least not for the Ales that I've brewed so far.
kombat
Well-Known Member
Freeing up the primary is a perfectly valid reason, but FYI, the current belief is that racking to secondary is actually detrimental to beer clarity. The reason is that while the beer is sitting in primary, yeast and sediment are slowly precipitating to the bottom. The top portion of the beer will be considerably clearer than the lower portion. When you rack the beer to another vessel, you're mixing all those particulates back into uniform solution, so they have to start precipitating from the top all over again.
The presence of absence of a yeast cake on the bottom of the fermenter is irrelevant to the ability of the beer to precipitate out any remaining sediment.
Summary: It actually makes the beer less clear, and risks oxidation to boot.
Thanks for the tips and info, there is so much conflicting information on what is and isn't recommended regarding the secondary but the consensus seems to be that the secondary is just an extra step that is not needed, especially with the Ales that I am brewing. My first two beers were Brewers Best kits and the instructions recommend the secondary fermentation for clarity. Next up is pumpkin ale and a blonde ale, I plan to cut out the secondary for both of those and see how they go. I'll just leave them in the primary longer.
I am on my third batch with US-05 and I am starting to trust that it is doing its thing. First batch in a bucket with very little activity in the airlock, this was a SNPA clone. My gravity readings lead me to think it was done so I racked it to a secondary and it took off again for a few days. 2nd batch was a centennial blonde fermented in a 6 gallon better bottle. Fermented like crazy and even had some blow off. I am on day 9 on this one and still getting activity in the airlock. 3rd batch is a pumpkin ale brewed Sunday in a bucket with a new lid. Very little activity, very minimal krausen yet it has gone from 1.050 to 1.010 in 5 days, based on my SNPA experience i'll let it go several more days and test again. I'm not sure if this indicates the lack of a good seal with the bucket or the type of beer being brewed but each batch was simply pitched on top at the same temps and the results are very different. In the end though US-05 appears to be doing its job very well.
Just a Noob learning as I go but my first two batches are done and are very drinkable if not very good beers so now I can RDWHAHB while I learn..
Just a Noob learning as I go but my first two batches are done and are very drinkable if not very good beers so now I can RDWHAHB while I learn..
I use us-05 in my stouts and American wheat ales and have had it do that. Usually, it takes 24-48 hours to get going and then it really gets active. It's an odd ale yeast to me that behaves that way but as long as it makes god, drinkable beer, I never worry.
